ISO Records
Total Running Time - 49:17

Personnel
David Bowie - Vocals, guitar, keyboards, stylophone, baritone sax, percussion, synths, backing vocals; Earl Slick - Guitar; Mike Garson - Piano; David Torn - Guitar; Gail Ann Dorsey - Backing vocals; Sterling Campbell - Drums; Matt Chamberlain - Drums; Catherine Russell - Backing vocals; Tony Visconti - Bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals; Gerry Leonard - Guitar; Mark Plati – Bass, guitar; Mario J. McNulty - Percussion

1. New Killer Star
2. Pablo Picasso
3. Never Get Old
4. The Loneliest Guy
5. Looking for Water
6. She’ll Drive the Big Car
7. Days
8. Fall Dog Bombs the Moon
9. Try Some, Buy Some
10. Reality
11. Bring Me the Disco King

It seems to be de rigeur for most critics to dismiss the large majority of David Bowie’s output from the mid- to late-eighties onward. Up to a point, at least. Starting with 2002’s Heathen, and continuing with his latest, Reality, the lingering memories of past critical transgressions seem to finally be dissipating.

I, for one, don’t agree with the conventional wisdom on Bowie, as there was much to like on 1997’s Earthling, which was considered by some to be mere dabbling in electronica. And the vote wasn’t unanimous on Heathen, either. But the reception of these albums, and even the whole idea of something like Tin Machine, the ill-fated attempt by the former Thin White Duke to completely reinvent himself in a hard rock band on the cusp of the grunge revolution, paints an interesting picture of the critical landscape.

What I’m saying is, I think I understand why Reality has gone over well. For quite some time, David Bowie seems to have been most interested in finding novel contexts in which to try to be -- or in the case of Tin Machine, try not to be -- David Bowie. This is going to be, almost by definition, a tough pill to swallow for anyone who is more beholden to what Bowie’s first ten or fifteen years as an artist staked out as his “sound.” There are stories of producer Brian Eno concocting bizarre plots with musicians as characters and the songwriting and recording strategies getting more and more oblique, and both fans and critics seemed unwilling to follow along for the entire ride.

By and large, this process ended when the singer was reunited with Tony Visconti, the “other” producer (along with Eno) responsible for Bowie’s “Berlin Trilogy” of Heroes, Lodger and Scary Monsters in the late seventies. The immediate result was Heathen, which, after being air-dropped into so many different sounds, felt like a return to familiar terrain.

At first blush, Reality seemed like more of the same, not necessarily a bad thing in it’s own right. What was interesting was seeing critics who panned Heathen come around on the new record. Then it hit me. Heathen is Bowie sounding like Bowie again. But Reality, with the singer’s experience in post-9/11 New York City informing a lot of the material, was Bowie really being Bowie again. I have a blind spot for lyrical content, and when you look back over the latter half of the catalog, there are certainly good songs, but perhaps not a lot of songs that really mean something. Of course, there are exceptions, but I think this theory holds up. If you have a vague notion of piano and acoustic guitar textures in somewhat spacey rock songs, Heathen brought that back. If you expect David Bowie’s songs to mean something, then Reality is the true return to form.

i4 Records
Total Running Time - 48:50

Personnel
Noel Arnim - Bass, vox; Jason Lee - Guitar; Doug Meis - Drums; Scott Tallarida - Guitar, vox; Jim DiNou - electronics; Ben Schellhase - Bass

1. Liberated
2. System Undone
3. God Save The Milky Way
4. Unsteady
5. A Day Like Today
6. The Enemy
7. Hey, Mr. Everything
8. My Evening News
9. The Plague
10. She Said!
11. Dear Departed Fool
18. Bonus Track

Sometimes, things just don't fit in the way they're supposed to. If there's an underlying mantra to The Safety Primer Justice, the second full-length effort from Chicago's EXO, that pretty much sums it up. People don't fit into normal society, guitars don't fit into traditional harmonic structures, rhythms don't fit into normal musical measures. This whole notion is summed up nicely in "System Undone," the second track on the disk, when singer Scott Tallarida imparts "I thought I'd live forever/I should already be the annointed one by now" in his characteristic pre-apocalyptic snarl.

That's just one example. Thematically, the perceived difficulties of modern living are ticked off with varying degrees of effectiveness -- the opening lines of "God Save the Milky Way" are a little heavy-handed for me, for one -- but all with relentless intensity. The band delivers barbed hooks one after another, with the consistent surprise of so many potentially abrasive elements coalescing into such good songs. The guitars have a tendency to be harsh and sometimes dissonant. Rhythmically, the band has an almost dogmatic avoidance of the downbeat, with big hits sprawling over barlines at nearly every turn. But maybe it's all that built-in tension that makes the release so satisfying.

Immune Records
Total Running Time - 72:51

Personnel
Mike Keneally - Vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards and synthesizers, bass, drums, percussion; Brian Beller - Bass; Joe Travers, Mike Mangini, Tom Freeman - Drums; Frank Briggs - Drums, synthesizers; Toss Panos - Drums, percussion; Mark DeCerbo, Bob Tedde - Vocals; Jeff Forrest - Parade snare

1. Potato
2. I, Drum-Running, Am Clapboard Bound
3. Why Am I Your Guy?
4. Looking for Nina
5. Frozen Beef (Come With Me)
6. Tranquillado
7. What Happened Next
8. Chatfield Manor
9. Beautiful
10. I Guess I'll Peanut
11. Voyage to Manhood
12. Egg Zooming
13. Own
14. I'm Afraid
15. Cardboard Dog
16. Sluggo

Wow. I haven't had an album rocket onto my top ten of all-time in quite a while. Nor have I been as totally obsessed with an album in perhaps even longer. This is some serious shit. Over time, I've come to realize that the things I tend to look for in the music I enjoy are solid musicianship, good pop hooks, contrast, a sense of humor, and aggressiveness. Sluggo! has all of these in spades. Keneally, who filled the 'stunt guitar' role on Frank Zappa's ill-fated final tour in 1988, has put together a maddeningly cohesive set of tunes, ranging from the super pop hooks of the inane but effective "Potato" to the arching density of "I, Drum-Running, Am Clapboard Bound." And those are just the first two tracks.

From his tenure with Zappa and fellow Zappa alum Steve Vai, Keneally has made a name for himself as quite a technician. While the album has its share of jaw-dropping technical displays, pop sensibility is ultimately what holds everything together. Even when dispensing with the arcane polyrhythms of "Egg Zooming," a tune that makes Zappa's infamous "Black Page" seem like a walk in the park, Keneally divines a melody that won't let go. When he turns that considerable talent on the more straightforward "Own," or "Frozen Beef (Come With Me)," the results are downright intoxicating. Heck, on the very eighties-Yes inspired "Chatfield Manor," Keneally sings directions to the house of his webmaster (Let's go up the freeway/Hang a left/Hang a right/Chatfield Manor). And it works.

The other benefit of that sensibility is that in holding everything together, Keneally is able to present an album that functions as a unit, rather than a collection of songs. There's a strong sense of continuity that is even more amazing when you consider that there are six different drummers playing, including Keneally himself. In and era of random access and shuffle play, this album wants to be heard from start to finish. While there are a few moments where it loses a little steam, the overall effort belies a monumental talent, and proof that technical ability as a means to an end can create powerful, heady, and ultimately pop, music.